the presidential election scheduled for the end of March, after weeks of crisis

A return to appeasement? The presidential election in Senegal is scheduled for the end of March, the presidency and the Constitutional Council announced on Wednesday March 6. However, a degree of confusion persists over the precise date, with the presidency announcing that the first round would take place on March 24, and the Constitutional Council setting it for March 31.

This announcement follows the publication of a decision by the Constitutional Council, which ruled that the presidential election should take place before April 2, rejecting the proposed date of June 2. The Sages also rejected another recommendation made to President Macky Sall and declared that the list of 19 candidates already validated by the institution should not be revised.

The Prime Minister “liberated” to campaign

The Senegalese presidency noted this sudden acceleration of the calendar by announcing in the evening that Prime Minister Amadou Ba was “released” from his post to campaign. He is replaced by Interior Minister Sidiki Kaba, a spokesperson said.

President Macky Sall caused a shock in a country presented as one of the most stable in West Africa shaken by power grabs by decreeing on February 3 the postponement of the election scheduled for February 25.

An amnesty law adopted

Senegalese deputies also adopted an amnesty law for acts linked to political violence in recent years on Wednesday evening. The text is widely criticized even though it is supposed to dissipate tensions in the midst of the crisis surrounding the postponement of the presidential election.

Its detractors consider that it protects the perpetrators of serious crimes, including homicides. The amnesty for facts linked to the political unrest of the last three years is however presented as one of the elements of President Macky Sall’s response to the crisis.